Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) has signed agreements with five private banks to expand its Online One Stop Service (OSS), aiming to further simplify investment services and improve the country's business-friendly environment.
The memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed at BIDA's conference room on Sunday, with the BIDA Executive Member Air Commodore Md Shaharul Huda in the chair.
Mr. Shaharul Huda said BIDA has been continuously strengthening the OSS platform to ensure faster, easier and more modern services for investors.
The inclusion of five leading banks will allow investors to access essential banking services from a single platform, he added.
The participating banks are: NCC Bank PLC, One Bank PLC, United Commercial Bank PLC, Shimanto Bank PLC, and Al-Arafah Islami Bank PLC. Under the agreement, investors will now be able to open bank accounts online through the OSS portal, including temporary accounts for foreign investors.
Currently, the OSS platform offers 142 services and is integrated with 47 stakeholder agencies.
So far, more than 215,000 applications have been processed through the system. With the inclusion of the five banks, the scope of services is expected to expand further.
The BIDA has so far signed 68 MoUs with various service providers.
At the beginning of the programme, Director (OSS & Data Analytics) Sunil Kumar Adhikari delivered the welcome speech. A presentation on the OSS system was given by BIDA Director General Jiban Krishna Saha Roy.
Md Shahidul Islam, Head of Business at Shimanto Bank; Adnan Masud, Additional Managing Director of UCB; M. Shamsul Arefin, Managing Director & CEO of NCC Bank; Md Rafat Ullah Khan, Managing Director & CEO of Al-Arafah Islami Bank; and Kazi Ziaul Islam, Managing Director & CEO of One Bank also present on the occasion.
Representatives from Bangladesh Bank and the Financial Institutions Division also spoke at the event.
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